McCarthy on Mazzagatti criticism: 'Safety of [Fitch] wasn't in jeopardy'

Following Josh Burkman‘s submission victory over Jon Fitch earlier this month in World Series of Fighting 3’s headliner, referee Steve Mazzagatti came under fire for an apparent late stoppage. One fellow ref, though, has come to his defense.

Veteran official “Big” John McCarthy, who’s been policing the cage for two decades, doesn’t agree with the recent scathing criticism from Dana White. Following UFC 161, the UFC president, who’s long spoken out against Mazzagatti, said the ref is “dangerous” and “will seriously hurt somebody.”

McCarthy, though, said the nature of the stoppage – Burkman actually broke the guillotine choke and showed Fitch was unconscious, before Mazzagatti noticed – wasn’t as serious as some have made it out to be.

While McCarthy said Mazzagatti should have shifted to the other side of the fighters to get a better look at Fitch while he was in the choke, he said little damage was done in the June 14 fight.

“If you watch the tape, Burkman puts him out, and he’s out for one second at most when he is releasing that choke, and Burkman is being a sportsman,” McCarthy said on Friday’s edition of “Inside MMA” on AXS TV. “The real thing is I would say that people are complaining that Steve didn’t jump down. You know what? It wasn’t a situation where you’re looking like the safety of the fighter was really in jeopardy. It wasn’t there. … It’s going to happen, and when it’s released in the situation with Burkman, the safety of the fighter really wasn’t in jeopardy.”

In fact, in a past column, MMAjunkie.com medical columnist Dr. Johnny Benjamin previously wrote that unless a choke is held for for four to six minutes, brain damage is very unlikely. Or, as he wrote, “Obviously, it’s not a great idea, but once again, it’s not likely to cause permanent damage.”

Check out the full “Inside MMA” discussion, which includes a statement from Mazzagatti, above.